Barris Beat

Doing it all at once

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A visit to the Centre Block on Parliament Hill now includes a stop inside the door at a security check.

I was on my cellphone several times during a recent trip to Ottawa. I had a couple of conversations with family while I was in the National Capital attending meetings of The Writers’ Union of Canada. I also texted several of my colleagues back at the college about some of the writers’ workshops I attended. But once, last Thursday, I was doing something completely unrelated when I took a cellphone call from newspaper reporter Katie Starr of the Kitchener-Waterloo Record.

“I’m doing a story about a veteran friend of yours,” she said. “Do you have time for an interview?”

“Yes,” I said, “but I’m in the middle of something.”

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Features

Veteran shares tales of two different tours of Italy

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Veteran Harry Watts speaks to Wilson Avenue Public School students in Kitchener following his trip overseas where he served with the 5th Canadian Infantry Division, liberating Italy. Photo Peter Lee.

By Katie Starr

Kitchener-Waterloo Record

KITCHENER — Harry Watts’ trip to Italy 70 years after serving as a motorcycle dispatch rider in the Second World War was agrodolce — bittersweet.

Bitter because he retraced his footsteps, visiting a cemetery where 61 Canadian soldiers were killed in just two hours of battle.

Sweet because he met new friends and reconnected with old ones, sharing with them stories, memories and bottles of wine.

(Full story by Katie Starr appears in Kitchener-Waterloo Record, May 30, 2013)

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Barris Beat

Kids in the line of duty

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Korean War Veterans’ Appreciation Day took place in Oshawa on Saturday, May 25, 2013.

The ceremony was about to begin. Most of the dignitaries had assembled. The sound system was live. The pipe and drum bands were tuned and ready to go. But the MC of the proceedings held off until just before 11 o’clock.

“We’re awaiting some guests of honour,” Colonel Bob Chapman, the MC, said. “They’ll be here momentarily.”

Then a transit-sized bus pulled up to the curb on Simcoe Street in Oshawa. The bus was resplendent in poppy insignia and Remembrance Day slogans and when its doors opened, out came about a dozen veterans, most under their own power, but clearly needing some assistance. That’s when this heart-warming thing happened. (more…)

Events

Barris speaks to North York Newcomers Club

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Ted Barris has interviewed nearly 5,000 veterans. The experience has enlightened him about everything from veterans’ treatment by he federal government to post-tramatic stress disorder.

As part of its spring 2013 program, the North York Newcomers’ Club has invited Ted Barris to address the membership on Tuesday, June 11, 2013. He will speak about the job of getting veterans to speak about their experiences; his talk is based on one of his recent bestselling books, “Breaking the Silence: Veterans’ Untold Stories from the Great War to Afghanistan.” Copies of a number of Ted’s books will be on hand for sale and autographing.

When: noon., Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

Where:

Contact: Sue Lynch

Events

Barris joins salute to Korean War vets at Oshawa Legion

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Members of Canada’s Special Force sent to Korea from 1950-1953 to restore the 38th Parallel border between North and South Korea.

Veterans, families and dignitaries will assemble during the day at the Royal Canadian Legion (Branch 43) in Oshawa, Ontario, to pay tribute to the nearly 30,000 Canadians who served in the first defence of the United Nations Peace Charger in Korea between 1950 and 1953. Ted Barris will be in attendance and has been asked to speak following the 11 a.m. Remembrance ceremony.

Where: Royal Canadian Legion Branch 43, 471 Simcoe Street, Oshawa

When: luncheon, Saturday, May 25, 2013

Contact: Myrna Picotte, 289-200-6706

Events

Barris speaks to Kinsmen at 420 Wing about D-Day

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Troops of the highland regiments wade ashore in the second wave of D-Day landings in Normandy – June 6, 1944.

During a return visit to speak to the Oshawa Kinsmen, Ted Barris will pay tribute to a group of veterans whose unique experience changed the complexion of the Second World War. Based on his bestselling 2004 book, “JUNO: Canadians at D-Day, June 6, 1944,” Ted looks at some of the unheralded Canadians who made the greatest military gamble of the Second World War succeed. Operation Overlord depended on the lightning strike capability and efficiency of all three Allied armies – U.S., British and Canadian – on D-Day. Ted Barris’s definitive book on the Canadian story that day will be the focus of this year’s talk.

Where: 420 Wing building, at Oshawa Airport (Stevenson Road)

When: 9 a.m. Sunday, June 9, 2013

Contact: Todd Doyle, 905-243-0703

Barris Beat

Getting things done Italiano

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Postcards awaiting postage stamps I couldn’t buy. The ticket (top) should have entitled me the chance to purchase those stamps, but the system in Italy doesn’t work that way.

It began innocently enough. I wanted to mail some postcards home. I’d done the hard part – composing some thoughts and finding the addresses. I’d even discovered that postage stamps were available in tobacco stores here. So I searched one out and asked for “francobollo” in my best, fractured Italian. But the tobacconist waved his hands. They didn’t sell stamps anymore. I’d have to go to the post office. There, I found what I thought I needed – wickets, line-ups and clerks – until I reached the front of the line.

“No. No,” the clerk said. He too was waving his hands at me, as if I was contagious. And he shouted at me, “You need ticket!”

“Oh, a first-come first-served system like a bakery,” I thought. “I can do this.”

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Barris Beat

Two-wheeled drive to serve

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Harry Watts was honoured May 13, 2013, at a ceremony in Pachino, Italy. He served with the 1st Canadian Division liberating Sicily and Italy during the Second World War.

Outside the restaurant in Catania, Sicily, the young man and woman were listening to my conversation with Harry Watts. They overheard us talking about the liberation of their country, Italy. What made the moment rather special was that standing right in front of the young couple was one of the thousands of men who had accomplished that extraordinary feat, 70 years ago this summer. But the young couple seemed perplexed.

“We thought the Americans liberated our country,” the woman said.

“No,” Harry Watts said politely, but firmly, “this part of your country was liberated by Canadians.”

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Barris Beat

Fine art of packing

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A veteran friend of mine and I happened to be comparing notes about an upcoming overseas trip we’ll be taking together. We were itemizing some of the clothing he might need for the climate where we’ll be travelling. I reminded him about the possibility of rain at night and the likelihood of warm temperatures in the daytime. I used some reliable advice:

“Pack layers,” I suggested, “so you can add or subtract as needed.”

“Why do you think I take several days to pack?” he pointed out. “I like to plan these things.”

“So that’s the secret,” I kidded him. “You take almost as many days to pack as we will be travelling.”

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Barris Beat

High watermarks

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Spring flooding of the Muskoka River through Bracebridge, Ont. Photo on Twitter, Daryn Jones.

I could hear it before I could see it. It sounded a bit like a strong wind blowing through the trees. But it was a constant white-noise sound. Then I could feel it. The earth beneath our feet seemed to vibrate. Not an earthquake, but as I walked onto the wilderness bridge, I could feel it being pounded.

The force of surging water seemed to rattle the steel and stone of the structure to its core. I stood there at the centre of the bridge spanning the river where it pours over a large drop known as Victoria Falls and I marvelled at Nature.

“This is as close as I’d ever want to get to a tsunami,” I suggested to a one of my travelling partners. “What power.”

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